A Review of Hastening and Rebirth by Steve Smith
We realized then how easily we could immobilize Christians through distraction. Increase affluence and toss pleasures their way. Most have become functional universalists anyway. They don’t believe people who are not part of the Christian religion really go to hell. If affluence doesn’t work, we highlight other legitimate compelling causes such as poverty and injustice to divert them from world mission. And by allowing them success in other arenas, we had little difficulty getting most to abandon any focus on world proselytization. - Head of the Religion Department
Using the most conservative figures, for every unreached unengaged people group there are at least eighty Protestant churches in America alone! And today the Church outside the US is far bigger than it is here. The resources are in place… [to] finish the task. - A Christian leader called to take on the Great Commission
Wow! Steve Smith could write. I’ve read T4T, which is a very practical hands-on manual for pursuing movement. I’ve read Spirit Walk, which is a great call to walk in the Spirit with a simple framework to help you do that. But because these two books (Hastening and Rebirth) were a completely different genre I honestly didn't expect them to be so good. But they were very engaging fiction.
So what’s the story about? To sum it up, most of the end-times fiction that I’m aware of leaves one very clear teaching of Jesus out of it. “The Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14 (We see that echoed in Revelation 5 and 7 when there are people from language, tribe, and nation praising God.)
Steve wrote this end-times story with the evangelism of the world being a key thread in it. The plot starts when a local pastor gets the crazy idea that he and his church should be pursuing the remaining unreached people groups. The story ends when … well, I guess you’ll have to read it to see.
As I said, I’m not aware of much else in the end-times fiction category that emphasizes every people, tribe, tongue, and nation responding to the Gospel before the end comes.
Steve wrote the story from a post-tribulation rapture perspective. I was a little surprised by that, but I found that it drove me back to Scripture to see what it says about the end times. Anytime something drives you to Scripture, that’s a good thing.
Those of you who are done reading because you are premillennialists please give me one more sentence: Regardless of when the rapture happens, we need to live and labor with the realization that Jesus promised all nations would be reached before the end of days.
What Steve does with this series is paint a picture of living our lives with a war-time mentality… of pursuing Jesus’ call to make disciples of the nations no matter the cost.
As I read this story I found myself asking: If this were really happening, would I be hunkering down and hiding, or would I still be seeking the advance of the Gospel?
